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  1. Abandoned factory in the UK. Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
    1

    What Killed Liberalism?

    Gene Frieda

    Governments have abandoned many of the economic ideas blamed for the populist backlash, yet support for populist parties continues to grow. This puzzle lies at the heart of two new books, both of which suggest that liberalism’s decline may outlast the economic forces that set it in motion.

    explains why neither stronger communities nor greater economic agency can turn back the populist tide.

    Further reading

  2. Couple meeting after voting at an early-voting polling station in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with multilingual “Vote Here” signs visible in the background. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
    0

    Oligarchy Is a Symptom, Not a Cause

    Jeffrey Frankel

    The deepening political dysfunction plaguing the US can be traced not to wealth inequality, as some argue, but to the fact that different groups of voters believe different facts. A political strategy that takes this into account might eventually lead to wealth redistribution, but it must begin with improved critical-thinking skills.

    argues that US politics is broken not because of inequality, but because people believe different facts.

    Further reading

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    Secure your copy of PS Quarterly: Slopocalypse Now

    AI-generated content already accounts for half the articles published online, and not even digital forensics experts can tell what’s real anymore. Can those still offering a humanistic vision of online life make themselves heard over the din?

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  1. The Return of the German Question

    Joschka Fischer fears that the victory of the far-right AfD in Saxony-Anhalt could augur a nightmare scenario for Europe.

  2. UN Peacekeeping in Crisis

    Adekeye Adebajo thinks a recent report by the secretary-general points more to burden-shedding than to burden-sharing.

  3. Will AI Take Asian Young People’s Jobs?

    Lee Jong-Wha thinks that fears are running ahead of the facts, but preparing for disruption remains essential.

  4. Alarm Bells in the Balkans

    Carl Bildt worries that recent political developments and rising ethno-nationalist tensions could prove destabilizing.

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  1. Couple meeting after voting at an early-voting polling station in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with multilingual “Vote Here” signs visible in the background. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

    Oligarchy Is a Symptom, Not a Cause

    Sep 25, 2026 Jeffrey Frankel argues that US politics is broken not because of inequality, but because people believe different facts.

  2. Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), attends the party’s federal congress in Essen, Germany, on June 29, 2024. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

    The Immigrants Leading the Anti-Immigrant Far Right

    Sep 25, 2026 Sławomir Sierakowski emphasizes how many of those appealing to nativism and xenophobia are guilty of rank hypocrisy.

  3. Trump welcomes Xi to Washington. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

    The Great AI Gamble

    Sep 25, 2026 Harold James warns that the US and China have, for different reasons, embraced a dangerous zero-sum logic.

  4. Wheat farmer working. KB Mpofu/Getty Images

    The Un-Ordered UN Order

    Sep 25, 2026 Mark Leonard suggests how Europeans can adapt to a world where states act without reference to any common framework.

  5. Microphones from several German media outlets, including Reuters, RTL, ZDF, Welt, Newstime, and The Epoch Times, stand outside the German Bundestag in Berlin. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

    AI Needs Trusted Journalism

    Sep 25, 2026 Stig Ørskov urges tech firms, publishers, and policymakers to work together to sustain independent sources of news.

Trending

  1. Are Mexicans Really Better Off Under Claudia Sheinbaum?

    Sep 17, 2026 Guillermo Ortiz suggests that improved poverty figures are being offset by a broader deterioration in socioeconomic conditions.

  2. Does Claude Have Rights?

    Sep 18, 2026 Mustafa Suleyman worries that Anthropic is training a simulation of a moral subject that could demand freedom.

  3. Why India Wants Peace in Ukraine—and China Doesn’t

    Sep 15, 2026 Nina L. Khrushcheva observes that the longer the war drags on, the weaker and more dependant Russia becomes.

  4. When AI Stops Asking Permission

    Sep 17, 2026 Tariq Malik pushes back against US Senator Bernie Sanders’ call for a ban on artificial superintelligence.

  5. Hedging the AI Doomsday Risk

    Sep 16, 2026 Dambisa Moyo outlines steps that policymakers and businesses can take to limit the fallout from a potential AI catastrophe.

OnPoint is our suite of subscriber-exclusive content. Get long-read commentaries, thematic deep dives, interviews with world leaders, and much more. Learn more.  

  1. Abandoned factory in the UK. Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
    1

    What Killed Liberalism?

    Gene Frieda

    Governments have abandoned many of the economic ideas blamed for the populist backlash, yet support for populist parties continues to grow. This puzzle lies at the heart of two new books, both of which suggest that liberalism’s decline may outlast the economic forces that set it in motion.

    explains why neither stronger communities nor greater economic agency can turn back the populist tide.
  2. Claude by Anthropic app logo displayed on a smartphone screen. Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto via Getty Images
    Free to read
    3

    Does Claude Have Rights?

    Mustafa Suleyman

    Unlike living beings, AIs are not moral subjects, and that is how they must remain. But a growing chorus of people argue that AIs could now be, or may soon become, conscious, and that, like other conscious beings, they may deserve rights and protections.

    worries that Anthropic is training a simulation of a moral subject that could demand freedom.
  3. Oil tanker unloading crude in China's Shandong Province. Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
    0

    Trump’s Iran Sanctions Have a China Problem

    Zongyuan Zoe Liu

    Iran has spent years developing ways to sell its oil and move the proceeds through opaque financial networks outside the dollar-based system. That leaves the Trump administration increasingly reliant on Chinese banks with little incentive to uncover the Iranian transactions its sanctions aim to stop.

    explains why the latest US attempt to squeeze the Islamic Republic may end up increasing Chinese leverage.
  4. Dark smoke billows over destroyed vehicles near a fire following an overnight airstrike on the Shahran oil refinery in northwestern Tehran. AFP/Getty Images
    0

    War and Climate

    Robert Muggah, et al.

    The war in Iran has underscored the dangers of relying on oil and gas imports. While it may revive demand for dirty fuels in the short term, over time it could also strengthen the case for clean-energy sources that reduce countries’ exposure to regional conflicts and maritime chokepoints.

    show why sacrificing rainforests and climate goals to strengthen energy security is no solution.
  5. Aerial view of the Stargate Oracle AI data center under construction in Abilene, Texas. Brandon Bell/Getty Images
    1

    Is AI Crowding Out Other Investment?

    Dambisa Moyo

    The AI investment boom has unleashed a wave of demand for capital just as savings are declining and interest rates remain high. As competition for financing intensifies, rising borrowing costs could squeeze non-AI firms looking to finance new factories, equipment, and projects.

    assesses evidence that the AI buildout is consuming funding and resources needed elsewhere.
  6. Dollar bills. Matias Baglietto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
    2

    Is Monetarism Making a Comeback?

    Tim Congdon thinks the post-pandemic inflation shock should have been viewed as a watershed moment in monetary policy.

Driven by the same incentives that brought us social media and its many social and political ills, the tech industry’s pivot to generative AI has cast further doubts on the potential for online life to serve positive human ends. The question now is whether those still offering a humanistic vision of online life can make themselves heard over the din.

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Opinion that Moves

  1. Martín Abeles The Return of the IMF to Latin America
  2. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg Europe’s Third Way on China
  3. Anne O. Krueger Trump’s 21st-Century Mercantilism
  4. Yanis Varoufakis The AI Productivity Delusion

  1. Jeffrey Frankel Oligarchy Is a Symptom, Not a Cause
  2. Sławomir Sierakowski The Immigrants Leading the Anti-Immigrant Far Right
  3. Mark Leonard The Un-Ordered UN Order
  4. Joschka Fischer The Return of the German Question

  1. Gordon Whitman Global Development’s Missing Ingredient
  2. Danielle Keats Citron, et al. The Digital Wellness Industry Is Hijacking Women’s Health
  3. Takunda Chirau, et al. How Developing Countries Can Do More With Less
  4. Amar Bhidé AI Addicts Won’t Make Better Workers

  1. Bård Harstad How Trade Deals Can Save Nature
  2. Nicholas Stern What It Means for Global Warming to Exceed 1.5°C
  3. Simon Zadek, et al. Can Adaptation Accelerate Climate Action?
  4. Jayati Ghosh, et al. A Workable Social Contract for the Climate Transition

  1. Harold James The Great AI Gamble
  2. Stig Ørskov AI Needs Trusted Journalism
  3. Kaushik Basu How to Stop the AI-pocalypse
  4. Lee Jong-Wha Will AI Take Asian Young People’s Jobs?

  1. Kailash Satyarthi The World Needs Compassionate AI
  2. Rohan Sandhu India’s Exam Worriers Become Democracy Warriors
  3. Michael R. Strain Just Say No to Remote Work
  4. Ian Buruma The World Cup as It Should Be

Africa’s economic rise is a world-changing development, but the sources of its emerging strength – and lingering weaknesses – are little understood. W…

  1. Mark-Alexandre Doumba Technological Leapfrogging in the AI Age
  2. Yemi Osinbajo, et al. Africa’s AI Opportunity
  3. Takunda Chirau, et al. How Developing Countries Can Do More With Less

Today’s media landscape is littered with landmines: open hostility from illiberal and autocratic regimes, mounting censorship in countries such as Hungary, Turkey,…

  1. Stig Ørskov AI Needs Trusted Journalism
  2. Kelly Stonelake Social-Media Age Bans Won’t Make Children Safer—But This Will
  3. Amy Brouillette Media Capture Failed in Hungary-and America Could Be Next

A selection of insightful commentaries written by female contributors on issues affecting women and girls.

  1. Shishir Gupta, et al. Why Do So Few Women Work in India?
  2. Danielle Keats Citron, et al. The Digital Wellness Industry Is Hijacking Women’s Health
  3. Ruth Khasaya Oniang'o, et al. Taking Women Farmers Seriously